Green Tea Can Improve Memory, May Prevent Obesity and Diabetes

A new study has identified a new treatment for memory impairment, neuroinflammation, and brain insulin resistance triggered by high carbohydrate and fat diets.

A new study published in the FASEB Journal, involving mice, has found out that EGCG (epigallocatechin-three-gallate), the most abundant catechin and biologically active ingredient in green tea, may improve fat and high-sugar triggered insulin resistance and cognitive impairment.

Prior research has pointed out the ability of EGCG to treat diseases, but until now, EGCG’s effect on insulin resistance and cognitive deficits caused by a Western diet remained doubtful.

According to Xuebo Liu, Ph.D., a researcher at the College of Food Science and Engineering, Northwest A&F University, in Yangling, China, Green tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world after water, and is grown in at least 30 countries. The ancient habit of drinking green tea may be a more acceptable alternative to medicine when it comes to combatting obesity, insulin resistance, and memory impairment.

Liu and the other researchers divided 3-month-old male C57BL/6J mice into three groups based on diet: a control group which was fed with a standard diet, a group fed with high fat and fructose diet and a group fed with high fat and fructose diet plus 2 grams of EGCG.

For sixteen weeks, researchers monitored the mice and soon found that the group fed with high fat and fructose diet had a bigger body weight than the control mice, and a vastly greater final body weight than the high fat and fructose diet +EGCG mice.

In performing a Morris water maze test, researchers have found out that mice in the high fat and fructose diet group took longer to search the platform in comparison with mice in the control group. The high fat and fructose diet + high fat and fructose diet group had a vastly lower escape latency and escape distance than the high fat and fructose diet group on each test day.

When the hidden platform was eliminated to do a probe trial, high fat and fructose diet -treated mice spent much less time within the target quadrant in comparison with control mice, with fewer platform crossings. The high fat and fructose diet +EGCG mice exhibited increase in the total time spent within the target quadrant and had higher numbers of platform crossings, showing that EGCG could fortify high fat and fructose diet -induced impairment.

According to Thoru Pederson, Ph.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal, Many reports, anecdotal and to some extent research-based, are now greatly strengthened by this more penetrating study.